What Is a Split Sheet? Agree Your Song Splits Before Release
The Music Maker
A split sheet is a short written agreement that records who wrote a song and what share of it each writer owns. It takes a few minutes to fill in while everyone is still in the room. Left until the song is out, the same conversation gets harder, because by then there is money and memory involved.
If you write with other people, and most of us do, a split sheet is the cheapest protection you will ever give your music. Here is what goes on one, why it matters when you register the song, and how to make it a habit.
What goes on a split sheet
Keep it to one page. A good split sheet answers five questions:
The song: its working title and the date it was written.The writers: every writer's full legal name, contact details and what they contributed, such as music, lyrics or both.The shares: each writer's percentage of the song, together adding up to 100.The rights organisations: each writer's collecting society and, where they have one, their publisher.The signatures: every writer signs and dates it.
A split sheet covers the song itself, the melody, harmony and words. Who owns the recording of that song is a separate question with its own agreement, so do not let one stand in for the other.
Why a split sheet matters when you register a song
Collecting societies pay songwriters according to how a song is registered. BumaStemra, the Dutch society, puts it plainly: it needs to know who owns the copyright shares so it can pay all rightsholders correctly. Its guidance also says a work needs to be registered by only one of the writers, and that whoever registers it must list every rightsholder with a percentage share, even writers who are not BumaStemra members. Co-writers who are members then get a notification asking them to approve or amend their share.
That notification is where a missing split sheet shows. If the percentages match what everyone signed, approving them is a formality. If nobody wrote anything down, it is the start of a negotiation about a song that may already be earning.
The advice from APRA AMCOS, the Australian and New Zealand society, is the same in spirit: discuss your expectations before you start, get the agreement in writing, and remember that even an email thread is better than nothing. Once a work is registered, it notes, changing the shares needs the permission of all the co-owners.
Make it part of the session
The easiest moment to agree a split is at the end of the writing session, while everyone still remembers who brought the chorus and who found the bridge. Print the sheet before you start, fill it in before anyone leaves, and keep a signed copy with the session files. If the song changes later, a new co-writer joins or a verse is rewritten, sign a new sheet rather than editing the old one.
If you would rather start from a template, our Release-Ready Kit includes a split sheet template, alongside a release metadata checklist, a pitch countdown and a label and distribution deal checklist with the rules that apply in your country. It is a 12-page PDF to print or fill in, with country editions for the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
This week at The Music Maker
Our Releases page is now interactive: all 27 releases in one place, with search, filters by artist, format and year, and a player so you can listen without leaving the page.Le Guerrier Déchu by Jules Dekker, released in October 2026, is the newest single on our Releases page.The Release-Ready Kit is available in six country editions. Is your country not listed yet? Email info@themusicmaker.nl and tell us where you release.Are you an artist looking for a label that does the work around your music? Apply to join.
A split sheet is a short written agreement that records who wrote a song and what share of it each writer owns. It takes a few minutes to fill in while everyone is still in the room. Left until the song is out, the same conversation gets harder, because by then there is money and memory involved.
If you write with other people, and most of us do, a split sheet is the cheapest protection you will ever give your music. Here is what goes on one, why it matters when you register the song, and how to make it a habit.
What goes on a split sheet
Keep it to one page. A good split sheet answers five questions:
The song: its working title and the date it was written.The writers: every writer's full legal name, contact details and what they contributed, such as music, lyrics or both.The shares: each writer's percentage of the song, together adding up to 100.The rights organisations: each writer's collecting society and, where they have one, their publisher.The signatures: every writer signs and dates it.
A split sheet covers the song itself, the melody, harmony and words. Who owns the recording of that song is a separate question with its own agreement, so do not let one stand in for the other.
Why a split sheet matters when you register a song
Collecting societies pay songwriters according to how a song is registered. BumaStemra, the Dutch society, puts it plainly: it needs to know who owns the copyright shares so it can pay all rightsholders correctly. Its guidance also says a work needs to be registered by only one of the writers, and that whoever registers it must list every rightsholder with a percentage share, even writers who are not BumaStemra members. Co-writers who are members then get a notification asking them to approve or amend their share.
That notification is where a missing split sheet shows. If the percentages match what everyone signed, approving them is a formality. If nobody wrote anything down, it is the start of a negotiation about a song that may already be earning.
The advice from APRA AMCOS, the Australian and New Zealand society, is the same in spirit: discuss your expectations before you start, get the agreement in writing, and remember that even an email thread is better than nothing. Once a work is registered, it notes, changing the shares needs the permission of all the co-owners.
Make it part of the session
The easiest moment to agree a split is at the end of the writing session, while everyone still remembers who brought the chorus and who found the bridge. Print the sheet before you start, fill it in before anyone leaves, and keep a signed copy with the session files. If the song changes later, a new co-writer joins or a verse is rewritten, sign a new sheet rather than editing the old one.
If you would rather start from a template, our Release-Ready Kit includes a split sheet template, alongside a release metadata checklist, a pitch countdown and a label and distribution deal checklist with the rules that apply in your country. It is a 12-page PDF to print or fill in, with country editions for the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
This week at The Music Maker
Our Releases page is now interactive: all 27 releases in one place, with search, filters by artist, format and year, and a player so you can listen without leaving the page.Le Guerrier Déchu by Jules Dekker, released in October 2026, is the newest single on our Releases page.The Release-Ready Kit is available in six country editions. Is your country not listed yet? Email info@themusicmaker.nl and tell us where you release.Are you an artist looking for a label that does the work around your music? Apply to join.
